Lithium Australia innovates on extraction

Resource technology company Lithium Australia has developed an innovative extraction technology capable of extracting vast quantities of lithium previously considered sub-economic.

Using a technology known as the Sileach process, Lithium Australia is able to rapidly and substantially increase the amount of lithium extracted from mineral reserves.

Independent laboratory testing of the Sileach process have returned extraction results from spodumene, the primary source of hard-rock lithium, of up to 92 percent in only four hours.

"The Sileach process is a hydrometallurgical technique quite different from conventional lithium extraction processes, which require extremely high pressure and high cost procedures," Lithium Australia managing director Adrian Griffin said.

"Our process is low cost and environmentally friendly, which is valuable not only for newly mined materials but also for previously discarded lithium deposits thought too low-grade to be commercialised.

"Potentially, we are looking at global disruption of the lithium market as we unlock value within readily available and already extracted lithium deposits," he said.

Mr Griffin said that the global lithium carbonate market is facing shortages, with few operating hydroxide processing plants and that Lithium Australia now possesses a unique technology capable of filling this gap.